Chapter 48 - Darius - A New Hope

                                    

                                          
I was walking purposely slow, waiting for Clarice to either tackle me or pinch me with her smart-ass remarks, but instead, it was Winston's voice that called my name. It wasn't a warning that meant she was coming, but just a simple call of my name, and somehow, that was worse. 
I turned, not sure what to expect, but Clarice searching the crowd with shaking hands, wide eyes, and breathing rapidly, wasn't a guess. Anyone else around would simply think she lost someone and was looking for them, but I knew better. Clarice knows where everyone is at all times, and she most definitely doesn't panic. At least, I had never seen her do so before.
I knew who she was looking for in seconds, knew what she was likely to do if she found him, or he found her. With a whispered order to Garrison, I walked back to her and pulled her close so that curious eyes would dismiss it as the Crown Prince once again craving a woman for the day. I knew by the grip she had on me before I even saw her face that she was lost. She didn't know it was me, and she had that broken look in her eyes that makes me want to tear the world apart. I didn't know what else to do, so I used my voice, and she heard it. Just like I heard hers in my nightmares.
Her hands shook faster and I knew that she was back, but still distant. I wanted the fear in her eyes gone and the Clarice I knew back. I told her what she needed to hear – what I've always known – and watched as her eyes change. They went from afraid, to clear, and then another blink and she was the Clarice I always knew was hiding inside. It shocked me for a second, to see the world in her eyes. 
She was there for me when I woke up as a damn demon hell-bent on killing her, then when I woke the next morning guilt-ridden for what I did. Seeing her in a place I was in not too long ago has me worried or how quickly the simple though of Willdred Maron threw her into, but she starts to calm.
And thank the Gods too because-
I flinch at the sharp movement as she launches forward, but nothing really prepares me for the striking feeling of her lips on mine rather than her throwing me on my ass as she's always done in the past.
I'm so surprised that I don't kiss her back at first. Then she pulls back, the afternoon air once again between us, and I...fucking Saints I lose my mind. 
I've been wanting to touch her since she held her blade at my throat and sang her song in my ear that first day we met. Any other person would've disarmed me and claimed their win, but she didn't hesitate to take it one step further. Then when she let me remove her balaclava, I knew that my heart and mind were thinking the same thing. That she wasn't like any other girl in this world and I'd be an idiot to see or think otherwise. I lost my mind trying not to replace Kat's fingers with my own yesterday, and when I sorted through what that meant, I gulped down a glass of whatever bowl of alcohol I found first before filling it and another one for her.
Admittedly, I didn't want to really kiss her until I saw her in that scandalous dress yesterday, but I knew better than to try and make a move on her. Now she's already done that, and I want more. 
I grip her waist and pull her right up against me, my lips crashing back into hers. I feel like I can light the world on fire with her. Like the part of me that's connected to this world has finally come alive - truly alive. It's like I was a dying star and with every touch of her lips I come back to life, burning brighter than all the others.
By the Saints...
Let him come. Let Xaxias and his followers and Will come because I so desperately want to take my time with Clarice, and I can't necessarily do that with both our minds worried about when they'll come jumping from out of the bushes with clubs in their hands and screeching like seagulls.
I slip my tongue against her lips, asking her to open, to let me in. Just as she parts her lips to do so there's a pointed cough for someone on my right, and she pulls back.
They couldn't just wait for one more GODS DAMNED MINUTE!
The Bhaltayr turn around, all of them grinning widely from ear to ear. 
"You guys owe me ten gold coppers," Vlad declares. 
Of course, they bet on us.
"You couldn't hold it in for one more day, could you?" Gabe crosses his arms in annoyance but still smiles.
"Oh stop your crying," Garrison says. "Besides, you all owe me twenty gold coins. Thanks." He gives Clarice his fake smile, but it's the best she's gotten so far.   
"For what?" 
Here we go.
"They all said Darius would be the one the make the first move, I bet you would. So thank you."
Yep, these are my friends. The ones I'd give my crown for, die for, and do anything to keep them happy. We make bets on each other all the time, it just sucks when you're the one who was bet on to be the loser. I mean really. Am I that predictable that all of them but one agreed I wasn't strong enough to keep it in my pants?
"Why am I not surprised?" Clarice mutters flatly. I rub my hand over my face, trying to reset my brain and heart and - everything else. I don't really have an idea on what just happened or where to go from here.
"Oh shush. You would've made the same bet as the rest of us," Ethan snides.
Clarice doesn't answer and slowly looks at me with her lips pursed. Typical. Rolling my eyes and feeling rather betrayed, I walk off, once again leaving them to follow. Two steps later they're making two lines at my side. How nice of them to be so kind as to protect me. 
Clarice skips – skips – up beside me, smiling like it's the brightest day. 
"Where ya goin'?" she asks like some excitedly prodding child.
I can't help but smile at her. Or look at her lips. Now that I've kissed her once, I don't really want to stop. "This way," I answer, still caught in whatever trance she's put me in.
"Well can we turn right, because there's a Bedeviled Path race starting soon and I absolutely adore watching people face plant in mud before they get sacked by a log?"
Knowing that this isn't a question, I offer her my arm and Garrison turns us toward the Bedeviled Path.